278 flood insurance claims·$2.2M paid·6 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Fresno County, California. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Long-term data shows that standard riverine and general flooding dominates Fresno County, accounting for 312 events and 2 deaths over the past 30 years alongside 32 flash flood events. Recent weather patterns illustrate this hazard, such as a low-pressure system on February 6, 2025, that brought widespread precipitation and rising snow levels to the Sierra Nevada, followed on February 13, 2025, by an upper low-pressure system that produced widespread moderate to heavy precipitation and nuisance flooding alongside damaging wind gusts.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in Zone A have experienced the highest claim volume with 123 claims, averaging a payout of $18,067 with an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Properties in Zone X have also recorded significant impacts, averaging 12 inches of water depth across 40 claims with an average payout of $11,987. Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A, Zone X, and unshaded or shaded Zone X areas should pay the closest attention to flood risk, as these zones account for the vast majority of historical insurance claims and recorded water depths in the county.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
36% of Fresno County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
193 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 7 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1995, with 68 claims and $607,653 paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms, Flooding Landslides, Mud Flow.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
290 NOAA storm reports from Fresno County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the California flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 9, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 21, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Jan 8, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 27, 2022 |
| Creek Fire | Sep 6, 2020 |
| Wildfires | Sep 4, 2020 |
| Goose Fire | Jul 30, 2016 |
| Severe Freeze | Jan 11, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
344 since 1996: 32 flash floods and 312 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Dec 24, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Nov 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 13, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Nov 26, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Dec 24, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 19, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 6, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Dec 24, 2025. A strong atmospheric river moved through California late on December 23rd into the afternoon of December 24th. Very heavy rainfall and strong gusty winds were observed across most of our County Warning Area (CWA). The heaviest rainfall was observed in Fresno, Mariposa and Kern County. Rainfall ranged from around half inch up to four inches in some localized areas. Flash flooding occurred mainly in eastern Kern Cou…
Flood · Nov 15, 2025. A prolonged period with significant precipitation occurred on the 13th until the 17th due to a series of systems that brought abundant moisture. Many San Joaquin Valley locations received around 1-3 inches of rain for that period, and the Sierra Nevada foothills, as well as the Sierra Nevada below the snow line, received around 3-6 inches. Snow levels varied from around 8,000 to 9,500 feet from the 13th until the…
Flood · Feb 13, 2025. A large upper low pressure system and associated trough moved across California on February 13 bringing widespread moderate to heavy precipitation to the area along with damaging wind gusts. Several reports of nuisance flooding were reported on February 13. There were also several reports of trees and power lines knocked down by strong wind gusts as several station reported gusts above 60 mph and a few stations ha…
Flood · Feb 6, 2025. A low pressure system moved inland out of the Pacific Ocean into central California during the morning of February 6. As a result, widespread precipitation spread across the area during the late morning and early afternoon hours. Much of the Sierra Nevada picked up between 0.75 and 1.50 inches of liquid precipitation with the snow level rising from 6500 feet on the morning of February 6 to around 8000 feet by late…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Fresno County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.